“I didn’t know there were drugs in there,” I snapped. “I wanted to help my brother! You don’t understand what it’s like, Nate. Your family’s normal. You’ve never lost anybody!”

He gave me a withering look. I shook my head, trying not to look at the prescriptions. How the hell was I going to get those before Nate saw them?

“I know your dad had a stroke, but it’s not the same.”

“This isn’t a pissing contest, Emma,” he growled. “Who’s suffered the most, who’s lost the most.”

“No, because I would win!” Tears—angry, grief-stricken tears—pricked my eyes. I blinked furiously, determined not to cry. Tears didn’t help. They didn’t change a damn thing. “I’ve lost everything Everybody! I’ve had to get my own brother thrown in jail just to keep him alive. Do you know how hard that’s been? I betrayed him.”

“I know you just want to help him. You’re a good person, Emma. A good mother. A good doctor. But you aren’t responsible for your brother. He is a parasite. A fucking drain on society. He’s using you. You can’t save him. Only he can save himself.”

“Mommy? Daddy?” Josh’s voice came from our bedroom doorway, Charlie trailing behind, like a sentinel guarding something precious.

Josh was clutching a teddy bear in one arm and dragging his red-and-white Star Wars blanket behind him, his middle and pointer fingers in his mouth. His bald head shone in the overhead light. He looked fragile and vulnerable, like an overgrown baby. My heart squeezed with pity.

Nate pushed past me to kneel next to Josh. “Hey, buddy. How you feeling?”

Josh rubbed his eyes. “Okay. I dreamed that we found a black dog and we keeped him so Charlie had a friend.”

“Kept,” I automatically corrected him.

Nate’s phone rang, and he stood. “I’ve gotta get this.” He angled his body slightly away as he answered. I took the opportunity to take a tiny step closer to the briefcase.

“We got the budget?… Good. Get a man over to Williams’s house tonight. If he shows up… Yeah… Yeah. Okay, bye.” Nate hung up and turned to me. “I have to take this briefcase in to the station to document the evidence. I’ll tell Lieutenant Dyson you were holding it for Ben and you didn’t know what was in it. You’re going to have to come in for questioning, though. Do you know where Ben is now? We’ll need to question him too.”

I snorted. “Haven’t you been listening to me? Of course I don’t know where he is! Ben never tells me where he is.”

Nate snapped the briefcase shut. “I’ve gotta go.”

“Where are you going, Daddy?” Josh asked.

“I just have to go back to work for a little bit, but I’ll be home soon, okay?”